Page 14 of Entangled

Five

Merrow was about to cry out Mother but stopped as soon as she heard her mother’s voice in her head.

Don’t let the others know who I am, Merrow. We can speak once they all leave.

Yes, Mother, she said back, using her gift of telepathy to converse. But I am so excited to see you, that I can barely keep from shouting aloud. Why are they calling you Dee?

I am not the same person anymore. Dee is what I go by now.

“Why are you staring like that at the handmaid?” asked Sebastian, draining the goblet and putting it down on the table. “Jocet, Merrow said she doesn’t want a handmaid, so send her away.”

“Yes, my lord,” answered his steward.

“Nay! Nay, my lord.” Merrow held up a hand. “Leave her. I want a handmaid, after all. I need her. Please.”

“That’s not what you’ve been saying up until now.” Sebastian took the gown from her mother. “Your services won’t be needed, he told her.

“Please,” Merrow begged Sebastian once again. “I want, I mean I need, another woman to talk to. I beg you to leave the handmaid here.”

Sebastian shrugged. “All right then. But there will be a guard posted at the door when I’m gone, so don’t even think of trying to leave again. I’ll be back in an hour. Come, Jocet,” he said, and both the men left and closed the door behind them.

As soon as they did, Merrow barreled into her mother’s arms, giving her a big hug. Tears ran down her cheeks. “Mother, I thought I’d never see you again. You’ve been gone for eight years now. We all thought you were dead.”

“Merrow, darling, I am so happy we are finally reunited. I could hear your thoughts as soon as you entered the castle. So when the steward said he was looking for a handmaid, I was sure to volunteer.”

“Were you swallowed up by an underwater portal, like I was?” asked Merrow.

“Yes. It happened one day when I visited the Mystic Reef.”

“Father has never stopped looking for you. None of us have.” Merrow walked over to the bed with her mother and they sat down together holding hands. “I asked Sebastian about you, but he said you weren’t here.”

“That’s because King Sethor found me and kept me a secret from the others. I guess there were once three kings of Mura who didn’t allow magic or dealing with magical-type beings at all.”

“Have you been back to the sea?” Merrow asked her. “Mayhap we can sneak out of here together and try to find Melite and Galene.”

“What? They are here too?” asked Dee.

“Yes. Melite wanted to hunt for pink shells and I guided them to the Mystical Reef even though Father forbade them to go.”

“You were wrong in doing so, Merrow.” Hurt shone in her mother’s eyes. “Now, because of your foolish ways, you and your sisters will be trapped here forever, just like me.”

“Now that we’re here, we can figure out a way to leave together,” said Merrow. “You won’t be trapped here any longer.” Merrow always strived to stay positive and see the good in every situation and in all things. “We will find my sisters and then all go back to the sea. We will wait for the portal to open again, and then swim through and go home where we belong.”

“Nay, Merrow. You don’t understand. I can never leave. Never,” said her mother.

“Never? I don’t understand. Why not?”

“Because, I have lost my tail for good. I am human now.”

Merrow’s heart almost stilled. “Nay,” she said in disbelief. “I thought the only time that happened to an undine was if we married a human. To gain a soul.”

“That’s right, dear.”

“Mother, you are already married. To Father. So what are you saying?”

“I am saying that King Sethor stole my personal shell charm. When he did, he controlled me. He controlled my sexual prowess, and liked it so much that he made me get married to him. So, even though I have a soul now, I am trapped forever in the body of a human.”

“Oh, Mother, that is awful. Father will be so angry that he will kill the man if he finds out.”